Alabama had initially blocked Smith from transferring to UGA, which just so happened to have hired former 'Bama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart away from Nick Saban's coaching staff to become its new head football coach. Saban finally relented on Wednesday to let Smith transfer without any restrictions.

The final roadblock to Smith's transfer was getting a waiver from the SEC, which would allow him to enroll at Georgia as a graduate transfer. The conference gave Smith the waiver on Friday.

“Graduate transfer rules were established with the intent to be grounded in the academic interests of the student-athlete,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “This conditional waiver permits Maurice Smith to receive financial aid to pursue his stated academic goals at the school of his choice while connecting his athletic participation directly to those goals.”